August 31, 2012  by Pius Ayinor

Mikel Obi and his compatriot Victor Moses are in Monaco, France where they hope to emulate former Nigerian star Celestine Babayaro by helping Chelsea win the UEFA Super Cup inside the Stade Louis II.

While Mikel is already an established member of the Stamford Bridge army, Moses could make his Chelsea debut against Atletico Madrid just as he has been handed the jersey number 13. The Nigeria international last weekend joined Chelsea on a long-term deal that sees him earning several times his weekly wages at Wigan. The 21-year-old forward is now in line for his debut today. He will also spot the jersey number 13, a spot after Mikel’s number 12 shirt, for ‘The Blues’ this season. Moses’ shirt was last worn by Michael Ballack .

Chelsea who shocked Barcelona to claim the UEFA Champions’ League will be up in super battle against another Spanish club Atletico Madrid who won the Europa Cup.

In 1998, Chelsea parading Nigeria international defender, Babayaro beat Real Madrid 1-0 to win their first-ever Super Cup.

And now the two Nigerians are also hoping to repeat that feat. Mikel was part of history last season as the Stamford Bridge team won their first-ever UEFA Champions League trophy at a time Moses was still playing for Wigan.

“The game will be interesting and tough. Atletico Madrid are Europa League champions, that says a lot about them. They won this same trophy last season and will want to retain it,” Mikel told MTNFootball.com.

“But I am looking forward to a good game and victory against them. It would be great for me to win this cup, my first and Chelsea’s second.”

The cup game will be the last for the two Nigerians before the Africa Nations Cup qualifying game against Liberia in Monrovia. While Mikel who has been exempted from the match returns to London, Moses will adjust his schedule for a trip down to Abuja where the other players are already in camp. On Wednesday Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi announced Monday deadline for all the invited players.

In an interview at Stamford Bridge this week, Moses talked about his desire to be part of the team to face Liberia. He featured for the Eagles extensively in the first round of the qualifiers which ended in June.

via Punch

Posted by admin on Aug 31 2012. Filed under Africa & World Politics, Headlines, Soccer, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry